Opportunities
Feb. 25th, 2021 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
storytimewithjoeWhile flipping through TV channels the other day, I landed on a commercial where I heard a very familiar tune. Advertising some sort of car insurance, a man was filmed driving along a California beach-side highway in a convertible, while singing along with the song on the radio – “Opportunities”. It felt a little odd to me having a pop song from my teen-age years used in a peppy insurance ad - particularly because people nowadays probably just don't understand the story. So sit back, one and all, and Uncle Joe will give you a glimpse into history.
I graduated High School in 1986 - the same year that a new group called the Pet Shop Boys released their debut album, "Please". Oh, what an album! “West End Girls” climbed the charts, and all around me, this new synth-pop sound resonated. Yet, strikingly, one of the most interesting-but-not-talked-about facts about the group is that the pop duo were both gay men. And in the 80's, a huge chunk of society was just NOT ok with such a thing.
When the duo released their next song, “Opportunities”, it too quickly climbed the charts. On the surface, the song seemed to be all about making a fortune. By pairing somebody with the brains with another guy with the looks, the two would be an unstoppable force. Right? Well, in very 80’s fashion, the song was pretty ironic, in that it was all based on pretense and not upon any real hope of success, given that there was no substance behind the pretense. This irony was lost upon many people.
But there was also another story – much darker.
In the video for the song (and yes, in the 80’s, the video was just as important IF NOT MORESO than the song), they added some additional words to the ending. At the end of the song, the narrator quickly ages and then suddenly fades into dust. Then come in the spoken words which are not in the radio-version of the song – “All the love that we had / And the love that we hide / Who will bury us / When we die?”
Let’s (over)think about this. What did this message mean? There have been many speculations and many interviews with the Pet Shop Boys, who have often commented that it referenced the fleeting nature of success, wealth, and materialism. But given the timing and the social climate of the day, I took it to mean something else.
People who loved people of the same gender still had to hide. They couldn’t openly acknowledge whom they loved. And when the AIDS crisis hit, much of society turned its back on those in the LGBT+ community. Parties gave way to funerals. Social circles shrank as burial plots grew. And the question of caretaking became a Very Real Fear. If everybody is dying, who will care for the sick? Lesbians became the guardian angels of men too sick to move. Thank the GODS for the Lesbians!!!!!!!! But where was the rest of society?
I am glad that we live in a different time now. I am glad that we have medications to treat the disease. But what have we learned? Have we really changed?
Given how that song was used, I really don’t think we have. And that saddens me – a lot.
I graduated High School in 1986 - the same year that a new group called the Pet Shop Boys released their debut album, "Please". Oh, what an album! “West End Girls” climbed the charts, and all around me, this new synth-pop sound resonated. Yet, strikingly, one of the most interesting-but-not-talked-about facts about the group is that the pop duo were both gay men. And in the 80's, a huge chunk of society was just NOT ok with such a thing.
When the duo released their next song, “Opportunities”, it too quickly climbed the charts. On the surface, the song seemed to be all about making a fortune. By pairing somebody with the brains with another guy with the looks, the two would be an unstoppable force. Right? Well, in very 80’s fashion, the song was pretty ironic, in that it was all based on pretense and not upon any real hope of success, given that there was no substance behind the pretense. This irony was lost upon many people.
But there was also another story – much darker.
In the video for the song (and yes, in the 80’s, the video was just as important IF NOT MORESO than the song), they added some additional words to the ending. At the end of the song, the narrator quickly ages and then suddenly fades into dust. Then come in the spoken words which are not in the radio-version of the song – “All the love that we had / And the love that we hide / Who will bury us / When we die?”
Let’s (over)think about this. What did this message mean? There have been many speculations and many interviews with the Pet Shop Boys, who have often commented that it referenced the fleeting nature of success, wealth, and materialism. But given the timing and the social climate of the day, I took it to mean something else.
People who loved people of the same gender still had to hide. They couldn’t openly acknowledge whom they loved. And when the AIDS crisis hit, much of society turned its back on those in the LGBT+ community. Parties gave way to funerals. Social circles shrank as burial plots grew. And the question of caretaking became a Very Real Fear. If everybody is dying, who will care for the sick? Lesbians became the guardian angels of men too sick to move. Thank the GODS for the Lesbians!!!!!!!! But where was the rest of society?
I am glad that we live in a different time now. I am glad that we have medications to treat the disease. But what have we learned? Have we really changed?
Given how that song was used, I really don’t think we have. And that saddens me – a lot.
